After Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election, a rumor went viral online claiming that Walt Disney World plans to close one of its longest-running attractions in response.
A TikTok video with more than 500,000 views shows scenes from Disney’s Hall of Presidents exhibit, which opened in 1971 along with the rest of Disney’s Magic Kingdom, with text that says Disney is “permanently closing” the exhibit.
Disney’s Hall of Presidents sits inside the Magic Kingdom park in a building resembling Philadelphia’s Independence Hall. Each U.S. president has an animatronic replica inside the building that provides a nugget of historical information.
In the video, a voiceover states, “This announcement comes only days after Donald Trump won the presidential election. According to an internal source, Disney no longer wants to have such a divisive show inside their theme park.”
Google Trends data shows a spike in searches questioning if the attraction is closing following the election results.
THE QUESTION
Is Disney closing the Hall of Presidents exhibit in response to Trump winning the presidential election?
THE SOURCES
- The Walt Disney Company website and social media accounts
- Mouse Trap News
THE ANSWER
No, Disney isn’t closing the Hall of Presidents exhibit because Trump won the election.
WHAT WE FOUND
Disney isn’t closing the Hall of Presidents exhibit due to Trump’s presidential victory. The rumor originated on Mouse Trap News, a satire website known for posting fake stories about Disney.
Mouse Trap News published a story about the exhibit closure on Nov. 9, claiming Disney prepared an animatronic figure of Vice President Kamala Harris – who lost to Trump – for the exhibit, but instead chose to shut down the exhibit rather than “scrapping the work.”
Mouse Trap News’ TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter pages make it clear that all the information it shares is satire. Each of their social media accounts says “Real Disney News That is 100% Fake” in their intro or bio sections.
Mouse Trap News’ about section on its website also says:
“Mouse Trap News is the world’s best satire site. We write fake stories about Disney Parks stuff. From Disney Park announcements to Disney Hotel and resort news to made-up Disney partnerships, you can be assured that anything you read here is not true, real, or accurate, but it is fun. So technically our slogan The Moused Trusted Name in Disney News isn’t true, but we thought it was creative and funny, so we are running with it.”
The Walt Disney Company has made no announcement about closing the Hall of Presidents on its website or corporate social media pages. The exhibit's page on Disney's website still lists normal operating hours.
According to the exhibit’s website, the Hall of Presidents currently features 45 figures instead of 46 because Grover Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms as both the 22nd and 24th president. Disney would likely follow suit for Trump as well, since he is also serving non-consecutive terms as the 45th and 47th presidents.
VERIFY reached out to The Walt Disney Company for comment but did not hear back by the time of publication.
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